News Masters

SELKIRK, Man. — A big Friday for Brad Jacobs has kept the Olympic champion from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., in the playoff race at the Masters Grand Slam of Curling.

After a slow 0-2 start to the tournament, Jacobs bounced back cruising to an 8-1 rout over Jim Cotter of Vernon, B.C., in the afternoon draw and needing a perfect draw to the button in the extra end to edge Niklas Edin of Sweden 7-6 in the evening to wrap up round-robin play.

Jacobs will now play in Saturday morning’s tiebreakers (8:30 a.m. CT) against Glenn Howard of Penetanguishene, Ont.

“It was definitely a little bit nerve-racking,” Jacobs said. “There was a lot riding on today and in that game and the last few ends so I was happy to hang in there and pull out the win.”

Edin also finished with a 2-2 record and is into the tiebreakers.

Elsewhere in Draw 13, it was a case of no hammer, no problem for Calgary’s Kevin Koe, who stole points in the first three ends and added a steal of five in the sixth end to roll past Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock 10-1. Both Koe and Laycock move on at 3-1.

“It was a big game for us, obviously we knew if we lost we’d probably be in the tiebreakers and you want to avoid those at all cost and qualify as fast as possible, so we came out and played really well,” said Team Koe second Brent Laing. “We didn’t have the hammer so we knew it was going to be a grind and played a really good first end and we were fortunate to get a steal, got a couple steals after that. We played well and put on a lot of pressure. (Third) Marc (Kennedy) and Kevin, I’m not sure either one missed a shot so that’s always good when the back-end doesn’t miss so big win for Team Koe.”

In the women’s division, Winnipeg’s Jennifer Jones held off Russia’s Anna Sidorova 6-4. Jones scored a deuce in the third to break a 1-1 tie and added to her lead with a double steal in the fourth and a single steal in the fifth. Sidorova clawed back with a deuce in the sixth and a steal of one in the seventh. Jones fell in her opening draw match to Alli Flaxey but has now won three in a row heading into the quarterfinals. Sidorova dropped to 2-2 and a detour into the tiebreakers for another opportunity to qualify.

Ottawa’s Rachel Homan powered into the playoffs stealing two in the fifth and scoring another pair in the seventh during a 5-1 win over Edmonton’s Chelsea Carey. Homan finished at 3-1 and second overall while Carey (1-3) missed the playoffs.

Scotland’s Eve Muirhead stole two in the seventh and added a single steal in the final end to win 6-4 over Saskatoon’s Sherry Anderson. Both teams finished at 1-3 and missed the cut. 

Four tiebreaker games are on the docket for Saturday morning (9:30 a.m. ET / 8:30 a.m. CT): Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton vs. Calgary’s John Morris, an all-Ontario battle between Brad Jacobs of Sault Ste. Marie and Glenn Howard of Penetanguishene, Winnipeg’s Kristy McDonald vs. Silvana Tirinzoni of Switzerland, and Russia’s Anna Sidorova vs. Margaretha Sigfridsson of Sweden.

The lower-seed winner between the two men’s games will play Niklas Edin of Sweden in a second tiebreaker round while the higher-seed winner will advance straight to the quarterfinals. Both women’s tiebreaker winners will qualify.